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Loose ballast is not a big problem, as long as you sift your kitty litter so only the large uniform pieces are used. That said, a light dusting of cheap hairspray or dilute white glue will add to stability without undue permanence.

[N.B.: The "kitty litter" reference is a lighthearted joking tweak directed toward the expensive-ballast enthusiasts.]

Last edited by Avanti

I have always glued my ballast down. But I knew a person that was a real engineer and on his layout which I believe at the time was tinplate track he would periodically take a brush and sort of brush the ballast back to the track. His explanation to me was that in real railroading ballast eventually moves down with the passing of trains. To each their own my preference is to glue and I use rubber ballast just in case a piece may make it into the gears.......Paul

I glue my ballast as well.  However I also have a good friend with a large layout who leaves his loose.  It's real limestone ballast and he's been running for about 15 years now with loose ballast very close to the greasy gears on his diesel wheels yet does not have problems.

To answer your question at the top of this thread, No.  And my reason is that I am not looking for a constant maintenance project.  I would be up on the table maintaining loose ballast all the time, if I had it.

You can try it if you want, but I don't recommend it unless you have a very small layout.  Also, I would not recommend kitty litter under any circumstance.  Scale rock from Brennan's looks the best and is scale size.  A lot of other products will give you ballast rocks the size of scale baseballs.

Funny, I had a modest size (14 x 16) layout and did not glue any of the ballast. Never had a problem. My maintenance consisted of using a small paintbrush every 6 months to keep it perfect. Took all of ten minutes.

The obvious advantages are NOT spending all that time gluing it down, and absolutely no mess or problem when changing track plans or packing it up. Serious time savings!

Paul

When ballasting time came, I had trouble getting "real" model ballast and began using kitty litter. I found the litter pretty satisfactory in every respect but one. It cracked a lot when put down in larger areas, like a yard. No big deal really.

After I was into it, I was able to procure Brennan's product. yes, much better although I am, in no way, unhappy with the "Kitty Litter Division" of my layout. 

Glued down was my preference. No opinion on leaving it loose although definitely inappropriate for my hinged entry way gate! In fact I keep losing ballast there even though I glued it down.

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